1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems for filing, storing and retrieving articles and, more particularly, is concerned with an electronic librarian and filing system and method for storage and retrieval of articles, one example of such articles being compact discs (CD's).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Disc-shaped recording media, primarily in the form of compact discs (CDs) and CD-ROMs, are currently undergoing accelerating growth in use. At the same time, user frustration has arisen from not being able to store and/or carry and easily access relatively quickly a large number of compact discs (CD's), especially for CD systems employed in vehicles and the like. While in their protective cases, CD's are cumbersome to handle and carry around, difficult to store, especially in a vehicle, and awkward to remove and install, especially when driving.
There are two types of solutions to this problem currently in the marketplace. One solution is the provision of a flip box for CD's. The flip box is in the form of a small box that has pages in it like a loose leaf notebook. Each page has a plastic protector into which the CD is inserted to protect it. The user must open the box, flip through the pages, read the small CD titles and select and remove the CD the user desires to play. Although better than carrying the CD's in their individual cases, the flip box is limited to 24-40 CD's and locating, retrieving and returning CD's is not easy. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,743 to Gelardi et al discloses a storage device for CD's somewhat similar to this solution.
Another solution is the provision of a multi-CD player. Some multi-CD players which typically are limited to playing up to four CD's are mounted in the dash of the vehicle. Other multi-CD players which typically play up to six CD's are mounted in the trunk of the vehicle and linked electronically to a selector keyboard on the dash. Other multi-CD players used in the home, office or business environment can play even larger numbers of CD's. However, these players are very complex, quite expensive and, in the case of the vehicle multi-CD players, very limited with respect to the number of CD's accommodated.
Consequently, a need still exists for a suitable CD storage and retrieval system. The vast majority of CD users still use single CD players and are expected to continue such use for considerable time. Thus, a suitable CD storage and retrieval system will be one that is easily portable, will hold an adequate number of CD's, will easily fit on the center console or front seat of a vehicle, provide easy access to the CD's stored therein, and make it easy to find where to locate the CD and to retrieve the chosen CD.
Such system should also be equally suited for use in the storage and retrieval of CD-ROMs which are finding a growing presence in homes and businesses. CD-ROMs appear to be the wave of the future in legal, medical and other business offices for efficient storage and retrieval of reference and other information as well as client, patient and customer records.